Women’s History Month: Women Who Shaped Psychology

Tsuruko Haraguchi was the first Japanese woman to receive a PhD in any subject in the year 1912 with her doctoral thesis researching mental fatigue. Not only did her determination to gain a PhD in psychology inspire many women in Japan to gain a higher education, the data found during her dissertation has been used by numerous scientists in research. Prior to dying in 1915 from tuberculosis, Tsuruko Haraguchi published an extended version of her thesis titled Studies on Mental Health and Fatigue in 1914. 

Inez Prosser was the first Black female psychologist to receive a PhD in psychology in 1933. Inez Prosser was an Educational Psychologist who used her dissertation to investigate the social adjustment of African American students in racially integrated versus segregated schools. Prosser spent seven years teaching in Black colleges and had a profound impact on helping Black students receive funds for college and graduate studies. Before passing away in 1934, Prosser financially helped five of her eleven siblings graduate from college. 

Mamie Phipps Clark was the first African American female to obtain her PhD in psychology from Columbia University. In 1946 she became an Educational & Child Psychologist who provided underserved children and their families in Harlem with psychological services. Additionally, her research on the development of racial self-awareness in children was used in the famous case Brown V. Board of Education. 

Martha Bernal was the first Latina in the United States to earn a PhD in psychology and become a Clinical Psychologist. Bernal was a member of the Cultural and Ethnic Psychology Program and conducted minority training for clinicians. Additionally, Bernal established a board of ethnic minority affairs for the American Psychological Association and National Hispanic Psychology Association. 

Rose Butler received her PhD in 1963 making her an Educational Psychologist who was awarded the Hamilton Watch Award for her service as a teacher, leader, and scholar. Butler’s refusal to send students to West Virginia where Black teachers were paid less forced the board to change their policies. Butler also implemented policies to improve reading in all students.

E. Kitch Childs became a psychologist in 1969 and established the Association for Women in Psychology and the University of Chicago’s Gay Liberation Front. Childs opened a private practice during the 60s and 70s where she provided therapy to those diagnosed with AIDS. Her research focused on experiences of Black women and feminist approaches in therapy to better encourage self-understanding and self-empowerment.